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What's My Line? (1968)
This is chronicling the 1968 version of What's My Line?. Game format In each What's My Line? game, a contestant would enter the stage and sign in his/her name, by virtue of the host saying, "Will you enter & sign in please?" After that, he/she sat down at a desk next to the host. The game would begin by having the home audience be shown what's his/her line, and the host afterwards told the panel a clue which is usually "deals in a service" or "self-employed", something like those. Now the panelists in turn asked yes-or-no questions to the contestant which would hopefully lead to the right line. Each time the panelist in control got a yes answer, his/her turn continued, but if at any time the panelist in control got a no answer, he/she loses his/her turn and control passed to the next panelist in line; the contestant will also receive $5. Upon a no answer, the host would say the famous catchphrase "# down, # to go" (Ex: 2 down, 8 to go). Sometimes a question would have the host make a brief explanation which can lead to either a yes or no answer. A panelist can be allowed to pass his/her turn without penalty; other times the panel can call a conference. If the panel can guess the right line, they won the game, but if they got ten no answers, the contestant stumped the panel and won the game and a maximum total of $50. Often, the host would throw the cards over (end the game) when time was running short or any other reason. In the syndicated run, the contestant would demonstrate or perform the product or service in question. Mystery Guest After two rounds of What's My Line? were played, a third round was played but a little differently. For this round featured the appearance of the "Mystery Guest". This was where the panelists were blindfolded so they couldn't see the guest. The mystery guest entered and signed in as usual, and that's where the game began. As usual the panel asked yes or no questions, this time to try and guess the name of the mystery challenger. What makes this round more different is that this time each panelist can only ask one question per turn hence the rule "one question at a time", and they had two to three minutes to identify the guest. While all this was going on, the mystery guest disguised his/her voice in a variety of ways. Some mystery guests wouldn't be famous from the entertainment field, but from other walks of life; when that happens, those guests would play in the main rounds; instead of writing their names, they would write down a big "X" referring to them as Mr. or Ms. "X". One such main round mystery guest was future president Jimmy Carter. In the syndicated run, the mystery guests were no longer scored. Also in the syndicated run in later years, if a panelist made a wrong guess of the guest, he/she would be free to take his/her blindfold off. Who's Who In the 1960s & 1970s syndicated run, whenever there was extra time, a special game was instituted called Who's Who. This was where four members of the studio audience were lined up on stage, and their occupations were printed on cards. Each panelist took those occupation cards gave each to the appropriate contestant (the ones who they thought had that occupation). Each time one panelist failed, another panelist took a turn. The game ended when the panel was stumped or if a panelist can place the occupations with the right contestants. Personnel *Host: Wally Bruner, Larry Blyden *Announcer: Johnny Olson, Chet Gould, Wayne Howell, Dennis Wholey, Bob Williams, Jack Haskell *Producer: Gil Fates *Director: Lloyd Gross *Set Designers: Ron Baldwin, Ted Cooper *Music: Score Productions Panelists Regulars Arlene Francis Soupy Sales Semi-Regulars Louis Untermeyer Hal Block Steve Allen Martin Gabel Dana Valery Alan Alda Bert Convy Elaine Joyce Ruta Lee Meredith MacRae Henry Morgan Gene Rayburn Gene Shalit Nipsey Russell Trivia First host Wally Bruner turned his attention to the "How to..." biz after three years of hosting the show. He made a guest appearance as a Mystery Guest. Merchandise Board Game Whitman (1969) A home version of the show was released by Whitman in 1969. il_570xN.460742595_7w5b.jpg Autobiographical Book Prentice Hall (1978) A book called What's My Line?: The Inside History of TV's Most Famous Panel Show Authorized by Gil Fates the show's producer was released by Prentice Hall in 1978. (NOTE: the cover of the book features original host John Charles Daly and the original three panelists Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf and Dorothy Kilgallen.) 51MBSPNWgxL._SY346_.jpg Photos WML14.jpg 1376383_585968084774078_1994937972_n.jpg 1968 TV GUIDE AD.JPG 1972 TV GUIDE AD.JPG $T2eC16FHJIQE9qUHrjIIBRbhg+2bJg~~60 57.JPG WMLAD1968.png WMLAD1972.png WML19681.JPG WML1968.JPG Markbillwally.jpg WML68Bert.JPG WML68Panel.JPG WML68.jpg Screen Caps Wally Bruner Era Opening WMLO.jpg WMLO1.jpg WMLO2.jpg WMLO3.jpg WMLO4.jpg WMLO5.jpg WMLO6.jpg Wally Bruner Era WML68.png WML681.png WML682.png WML683.png WML684.png WML685.png WML686.png WML687.png WML688.png WML689.png WML6810.png WML6811.png WML6812.png WML6813.png WML6814.png WML6815.png WML6816.png WML6817.png WML6818.png WML6819.png Larry Blyden Era WML74.png WML741.png WML742.png WML743.png WML744.png WML745.png WML746.png WML747.png WML748.png WML749.png WML7410.png WML7411.png WML7412.png WML7413.png WML7414.png WML7415.png WML7416.png WML7417.png Episode Status See Also: What's My Line? (1968)/Episode Guide Video See Also What's My Line? What's My Line? (Radio) What's My Line? (1981 proposed revival) What's My Line? (1996 proposed revival) What's My Line? (2000 pilot) What's My Line? (2008 Proposed revival) That's My Line Links Jason Colflesh's What My Line? Page Category:What's My Line? Category:Game Shows N-Z Category:Syndicated Category:1968 Premiere Category:1975 Ending